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U.S. rethinking tomatoes as salmonella source 6-27-08
WASHINGTON - As salmonella cases continue to climb, the government is
checking if tainted tomatoes really are to blame for the record outbreak — or if
the problem is with another ingredient, or a warehouse that is contaminating
newly harvested tomatoes.
The widening outbreak — with 810 people confirmed ill — means whatever is making
people sick could very well still be on the market, federal health officials
warned on Friday.
Tomatoes remain the top suspect and the advice on which ones consumers should
avoid hasn't changed, stressed Food and Drug Administration food safety chief
Dr. David Acheson.
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However, he said it is possible that tomatoes being harvested in states
considered safe could be picking up salmonella germs in packing sheds,
warehouses or other facilities currently under investigation.
Most worrisome, the latest victim became sick on June 15 — long after the
outbreak began on April 10 and weeks after government warnings stripped
supermarkets and restaurants of many tomatoes.
"The source of contamination has been ongoing at least through early June. And
we don't have any evidence that whatever the source is, it's been removed from
the market," said Dr. Patricia Griffin of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Disease detectives at the CDC in Atlanta are double-checking their own probes
just in case some other type of produce is really the culprit.
"We have also kept an open mind about other possibilities and are looking into
other ingredients," Griffin said.
She wouldn't identify other potential suspects, except to say that from the
beginning some patients have told the CDC the tomatoes they ate were in salsa
and guacamole.
For now, the FDA continues to urge consumers nationwide to avoid raw red plum,
red Roma or red round tomatoes unless they were grown in specific states or
countries that FDA has cleared of suspicion. Check FDA's Web site for an updated
list. Also safe are grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the
vine still attached.
But FDA's Acheson made clear that consumers should stay tuned in case that
advice changes.
'Facts keep changing'
"The facts keep changing here. The outbreak is continuing," he said. "We need to
re-examine all parts of this system and make sure that the consumer message is
still solid."
FDA inspectors spent the last week chasing the best clues to date in the
CSI-like hunt for the outbreak's source — but leads are growing cold.
Inspectors tested for traces of salmonella on farms in southern and central
Florida and in three Mexican states, farms suspected to have harvested at least
some of the tomatoes involved in the outbreak's earliest weeks. They also are
following the path tomatoes took from those farms to packing houses and other
distribution stops, testing water supplies and equipment along the way.
So far, "every single one" of 1,700 samples, mostly from farms, has been
salmonella-free, a frustrated Acheson said Friday. Hundreds of other samples are
still being tested.
Salmonella bacteria live in the intestinal tracts of people and animals. Food
outbreaks typically are caused by direct contamination with animal feces or use
of contaminated water on foods eaten raw or not fully cooked.
Fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps typically start eight to 48 hours after
infection and can last a week. Many people recover without treatment. In fact,
the CDC estimates that for every confirmed salmonella patient, there can be 30
to 40 others who didn't see a doctor or weren't tested — although fewer are
uncounted during headline-grabbing outbreaks.
95 people were hospitalized
But severe infection and death are possible. At least 95 people have been
hospitalized in the current outbreak, and salmonella may have contributed to one
person's death from cancer.
The outbreak's sheer scope — with illnesses being reported in 36 states and
Washington, D.C. — and length make it unlikely that a single farm will be the
culprit, Acheson acknowledged Friday.
Tainted tomato cases continue to climb, CDC says
That in turn points more suspicion at warehouses and other points in a tomato's
path from farm to sale where bushels, even tons, may be repacked, or rewashed,
or otherwise processed. Acheson said the investigation's big surprise is how
many times tomatoes are repacked, as suppliers hand-pick their way through boxes
to meet individual customers' demands for, say, small ripe tomatoes or larger
greener ones.
And therein is a key problem: Some of the packing houses that handled suspect
tomatoes from Florida and Mexico may now be handling freshly harvested tomatoes,
Acheson said. FDA inspectors are hunting contamination in some of those packing
houses now.
"Clearly the message is, we need to be looking at all possibilities," he said.
"We need to re-examine all the information."
Comment:
Alot of people including the media are concerned this may have been a terrorist attack. However the only attack may be the rotten USDA regulations that allow the use of human and animal waste, which certainly contains salmonella. Organic regulations even the lax USDA Organic, do not allow any kind of sewer sludge. At this point organic tomatoes are the safest bet for your family.
The problem can even carry over to your organic tomatoes however, when sold in the same market as conventional. Salmonella and germs from the conventional tomatoes get on the organic from customer and employee handling. you need to immediately pack your tomatoes in a separate plastic bag from anyone and then sanitize your hands. When you get home wash your organic tomatoes with a solution of peroxide; this should kill anything that could cause any illness.